Last June and July, the LA Times featured a few articles on internet marketing and spend.
Spending on online advertising surpasses TV, report says …it’s growing so fast that in 2008 it is projected to surpass ad spending on TV, radio and movies combined for the first time ever. Further in another article, “In times of economic strain, marketers and agencies are under more pressure to prove their results,” he said. On the Web, advertisers know how many people clicked on their ads and how many people ignored them. That’s tougher to prove in, say, something like radio. …Lest you think about abandoning your job and going to work in online advertising, here’s one note of caution: Spending on Internet advertising actually dropped slightly for the first time in 13 quarters.
Is this drop the reason why many of the marketing web sites have been featuring articles about improving your email marketing and email ROI. Can it be that email –otherwise known as the darling of communication for the marketing industry has hit a bump? Have marketers seen a rise in their unsubscribe rates or a drop in their open rates? Do these recent articles indicate trouble in paradise since the web is one of the best methods for campaign reporting? Maybe the recent email campaign results are a little …unsettling.
In fact, Marketing Profs recent article, Email ROI, or Kicking Our Baby Out of the Nest by Stephanie Miller states, “
For too many marketers, email revenue per subscriber is not growing, and more and more subscribers are simply ignoring our messages… Look at your unsubscribe rate. Check the complaint rate (subscribers clicking the “this is spam” button). Both will rise when you send irrelevant or too frequent messages.”
Stephanie ends her article with many suggestions that are based on personalization, data analytics and timely delivery of key email messaging can help fix this email situation and improve subscription rates.
But what if another bump hit marketers like the Can –Spam Act of 2003? (This is the reason for the opt in or out clause that now exists on all email advertisements.) According to www.spamlaws.com,
“Spam accounts for 14.5 billion messages globally per day. In other words, spam makes up 45% of all emails. …The United States is the number one generator of spam email … The most prevalent type of spam is advertising-related email; this type of spam accounts for approximately 36% of all spam messages.
The more we become victims of identity theft, phishing tactics, or email scams, the more pressure will be on the Federal and State governments to create and sign laws that will regulate email. But unwanted emails also affect businesses. Don’t forget each email takes up space in our inboxes, which means increased business costs of storing the email, and of course the loss of productivity in just reading the email.
The Radicati Research Group Inc., suggested that spam costs businesses $20.5 billion annually in decreased productivity as well as in technical expenses. Nucleus Research estimates that the average loss per employee annually because of spam is approximately $1934.
Rising unsubscribed and unopened rates along with some government regulation could create the perfect storm for some marketers which rely heavily upon email to deliver campaign results. It’s a fact, when bombarded with irrelevant messaging or email scams; Americans simply begin to tune out, by either hitting the delete key, or using the unsubscribe button. This unwanted call to action is quickly monitored and the metrics returned back to the company for further inspection, which may be an early indicator of email losing it glitz.
Clearly, neither email nor transpromo can be successful until marketers understand that their customer’s are demanding personalization.
